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I am a huge admirer of Elizabeth I, and this intriguing biography gives a wonderful picture of the era.

If pushed to say what I like about Elizabeth, who, as I'm sure most of you know, overtook Queen Victoria this week to become our longest-serving monarch, it would be her uncomplaining, getting-on-with-it ethic.

Say what you will about Queen Eleanor, she was a savvy, quick-witted woman who made her mark on history. And as the founder of the Courts of Love, what better patron monarch could there be for a romantic novelist?

Well, I've known Elizabeth almost all of her life and almost all of my life. And I love her with all of my heart and she's always been there for me. She's a wonderful, wonderful dame. She's a great lady.

If you saw Queen Elizabeth it would be amazing, she came from another planet. She was so attractive in what she was wearing.

There's only one Elizabeth like me and that's the Queen.

I have always admired and had enormous respect for Elizabeth Taylor. She was not only an incredible actress but an amazing woman as well.

I want to say unequivocally the Queen is magnificent. She is the enduring force, she is the glue that makes everyone feel good. She is beloved. I would rue the day when she may not be here.

I quite like the Queen. Now, this must come as a fairly amazing statement for someone who is avowedly left wing, pro-independence and anti-monarchy, but there you go.

I think that the benefit of playing someone like Queen Elizabeth is that so much has been written about her, and there's so much speculation about her - was she a hermaphrodite? She's so mythologised, and there are a lot of images of her.